Some Chesco workers have union vote scheduled

WEST CHESTER -- A war of words has broken out between the head of a union seeking to collectively bargain for workers in the Chester County Department of Human Services and the chairman of the county commissioners, in advance of the union vote next month.

In a press release issued last week, Chris O’Donnell, business agent for Teamster Local 384 of Norristown, accused the commissioners of betraying their responsibility to help aged and needy county residents by spending money on anti-union efforts in the human services department.

“The County is spending tens of thousands in taxpayer dollars to hire anti-union consultants to combat the DHS employees’ attempts to insure fair compensation,” O’Donnell said in the release. “Chester Countians expect our elected officials to be responsible stewards of our tax dollars. This includes helping our families when they are in crisis, taking care of our elderly, children and the disabled, being accountable to taxpayers, and dealing fairly with county workers.

“Our county commissioners are failing us,” he said.

Commissioners’ Chairman Ryan Costello, who opposes efforts by county employees to organize, shot back after reading O’Donnell’s accusations, and noted that the Teamsters’ would reap payments of county tax dollars if vote-in by the human service employees through the union dues workers would be required to pay.

“The statements were so inflammatory and dishonest as to be personally offensive to myself and many others who work everyday on behalf of the County,” Costello said, contrasting the position of the county in managing its budget with that of the Teamsters’ unionizing efforts.

“One organization takes pride in working on behalf of taxpayers; the other is willing to smear in order to take almost $100,000 from taxpayers” in union dues,” he said. “One organization cares for the elderly, disabled, children, and those with mental health needs through human services funding; the other disparages Chester County (officials) so they can try to win a campaign and grab a slice of the funding for their union coffers.”

After losing a union election in 2011, during which the current issue of relatively low compensation for human service workers in the county compared to neighboring counties was a focus, the Teamsters are back, seeking to represent about 160 caseworkers in the department. The employees are in Children, Youth and Families, Drug and Alcohol Services, the Department of Aging, and Mental Health and Intellectual and developmental Disabilities.

That vote marked the second time that employees in the department had rejected a union. In 2009, after having been represented by the Service Employees International Union since 2000 — and winning a three-year contract that included annual salary increases — the employees voted to decertify the union in a close vote.

In the 2011 vote, 88 employees voted against being represented by the union and 67 voting in favor. O’Donnell said that the Teamsters had been asked to return to the fray by those in the department still seeking union representation. “We do not solicit employees,” he said.

He said that he believed the atmosphere in the department may have changed enough so that employees were less likely to accept the county’s words that their pay and benefits would be increased over time.

“The difference is going to be whether the people are more afraid now than they were (in 2011), or whether they are more irritated because they’ve been hoodwinked” into thinking the county would treat them fairly. “Noting else has changed.”

The Teamsters claim that the starting salaries for caseworkers and others in Chester County lag behind those in Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery counties although the numbers could not be verified independently, O’Donnell said such workers in Bucks started at $41,700; at $38,000 in Montgomery; at $33,000 in Delaware; and at $32,000 in Chester.

“Chester County is the Number One wealthiest county in the state,” he said in an interview Friday. “They have the resources to insure that everyone in our community is taken care of and dealt with fairly, and that all county residents receive the highest level of service available. However, our elected leaders are not working to insure that we receive the level of services to which we are entitled.”

O’Donnell called the 2 percent raise that all fulltime, non-union county employees will receive starting next month a “small” increase compared with the 3 percent annual increase county detectives received in a four-year contract signed last week. He insinuated that the 2 percent hike was given to human service employees to insure a “no” vote in the representation campaign.

The union representative, however, saved his biggest complaint for the employment of an anti-union consultant to meet with human service employees ahead of the April 11 vote. It was that hiring he referenced in accusing the commissioners of disregarding he needs of their constituents.

The consultant, Peter List, owns a labor relations firm, Kulture, that offers its services to public and private sector employers to help them combat union campaigns. According to an article in Fortune Small Business, last year List, whose office location is kept a secret, fought 35 campaigns and won 32.

“His clients range from Fortune 500 corporations to tiny manufacturers with a dozen employees,” the story said. “People in List’s line of work are often referred to as union busters, but he prefers to describe himself with such euphemisms as “educator” or “communication specialist.”

“This is a textbook anti-union tactic,” O’Donnell said, demanding to know how much List was being paid.

On Friday, a county spokeswoman sad that Kulture had been hired by the county’s labor law firm, Buchanan Ingersoll. Rebecca Brain, the spokeswoman, indicated that the consultant would be paid through the law firm’s fees.

Costello, in response, said whatever fees Lost would receive would pale in comparison to what the Teamsters’ would reap if they win the election.

“The cost will be a one-time fraction of the cost when comparing it to the annual cost of Teamsters’ dues,” he said. “And the Teamsters’ dues would be diverted from compensation to employees. Which makes their statements all the more outrageous. Our one-time cost falls outside employee compensation.”

“In sum, they smear us and somehow try to make the argument that they can turn around and somehow negotiate a better deal on behalf of these employees with us.”

In an interview Thursday regarding the unionization effort, Costello said he hoped the human service employees would recognize that th county has tried its best to treat them a valued team members in serving county taxpayers.

“I do not believe that our current group of non-union employees will benefit by being unionized,” he said. “I believe that county management has the best interest of our employees. We do everything that we can to make sure people are compensated as fairly as we can, and that we provide a positive workplace atmosphere.

“I a not sure what benefit our employees will get being represented by the Teamsters,” he said.

Meanwhile, Costello’s colleague, Vice Chairwoman Kathi Cozzone, said she favored the efforts by the union to represent the workers.

“All county employees, union and non-union, are dedicated, hard working people who are committed to public service, and I continue to be impressed by their commitment to the citizens that they serve.,” Cozzone said in a statement.

“I understand that the County’s Human Services Employees have frustrations, particularly as they have been continually asked to ‘do more with less.’ I support the rights of all employees to organize and I support the effort of the Human Services employees to be represented by the Teamsters,” she said.